It Has Been A Long Week

Butterflydreamer2 had a birthday this week. Yahtzeebutterfly covered the Ted Wafer trial, along with other magnificent participants. I’m afraid that if I try naming everyone that I might inadvertently omit someone, so here’s a huge thanks to everyone. It certainly was not easy following a trial that was not live streamed.

Justice for Renisha is no longer a hope but a reality. We lift up her parents, family and friends. Nothing will ever replace Renisha, but knowing that the jury entered a ruling based on facts and the law is like having an eternal flame. May it brighten the path for others to follow.

We continue moving forward in hope and love for peace, not only in our nation of America, but for all inhabitants on Earth, including all creatures, great and small.

I checked the docket for Seminole County and learned that the case of Zimmerman v. Barr has a hearing scheduled for October 16, 2014. That indicates to me that Barr’s attorneys are preparing motions to have the case dismissed.

Thanks to everyone who commented here for the first time. I realize that I missed welcoming a few by replying to their comment, and ask for your forgiveness. It’s just been a fast week of being divided into many directions. Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it, (LOL) but the truth is that if I don’t do things as I see them, it takes me time to remember what I didn’t do.

Have a great weekend everyone. I might or might not post anything else this weekend, so feel free to use this for open discussion and remember, make somebody happy — make somebody strong.

What a week! Happy Birthday Butterflydreamer2 and Thank you so much YahzteeB for your diligence in bringing us the trial that found justice for Renisha McBride.

I wanted to share the following:

We have a local news channel who has allowed horribly racist comments to stand on their comment boards. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has contacted the station to complain. In the past their response has been (an excuse) of ‘community moderation’, blah blah blah. Yesterday I noticed that several stories didn’t allow comments at all. What follows is an e-mail exchange with the writer (Alicia Booth) of one tragic story:
—————————————————————————————–
On Aug 7, 2014, “m” wrote:

> Thank you for not allowing comments on the story of Howard Wiley who drowned in Black Creek yesterday.

> The last thing those who loved him need to read are the wicked comments you and I both know would be posted.

> Sincerely,
–
> M

—————————————————————————————————
Alicia Booth
Aug 7

To

m d

Hi M

That has been a big cause for concern/discussion in the newsroom. It’s heartbreaking to see what some people write, isn’t it?

Thanks for your email. I’m passing it along to the web folks who govern those policies.

Alicia

———————————————————————————-

Baby Steps but it may come to something. There may be hope for us, as a society, after all.

Thanks y’all! At one point, a reporter/writer admitted that they CAN moderate the comments.. when suggested if they can’t they shouldn’t have the comment board at all.. ( I never heard back from that particular one after that exchange)

(Administrator’s note: Donna, if you want to share something privately, you can post it as a comment. I have set it up so your comments will go to moderation and will not be posted publicly.)

good morning. I’ve been reading this blog since the Zimmerman trial but have never had an account until today. I have something I want to share with Xena privately but I don’t know how to send an email directly to her. Can you tell me how to do that?

Happy birthday Butterflydreamer. Also kudos to Xena on your new correspondent towerflower. Double kudos to all that did the work covering the Ted Wafer trial. It is a good thing that Ted Wafer has been found guilty of all charges,as he should’ve been. Where is the self defense in shooting someone who just banged on your door? That was all she did. Yet Wafer had the nerve to say he didn’t want to cower ,he didn’t want to feel less than a man. What a coward. Of course there are those that feel what he did was self defense and just. These same people will tell you that Joseph Walker and Trevor Dooley were unjust in their shootings. Even though Walker and Dooley actually faced aggressors and had people verbally assault them ,plus Dooley was physically assaulted. Now that Wafer has been found guilty,a heavy prison sentence will complete justice. Thank you all.

Wafer’s stories didn’t line up. Neither did Zimmerman’s, but the prosecution in his case made the mistake of presenting the jury with all of his statements and videos rather than forcing Zimmerman to take the stand and explain his inconsistencies. IMHO, the prosecution in Zimmerman’s case should not have played anymore to the jury other than his first statements to Serino and Singleton.

I would have loved to see Jose Baez cut into Zimmerman and Dunn.

These same people will tell you that Joseph Walker and Trevor Dooley were unjust in their shootings.

Of course. It’s a double-standard. When I researched the Dooley case and found that he tried walking away, I said, “Then he’s covered under SYG.” Then the jury came upon its decision of Dooley being the initial aggressor, and I said that the same applied to Zimmerman. But, after the Zimmerman verdict I saw that citizens of the same state, with the same law, apply it differently. That is an injustice.

Hey Joseph,
What you just shared helps us get into Zimmerman’s head. Thanks.

GZ apparently surrounds himself with people who once had positions with power and authority, failed, but were able to use their former position (or try to) to propel them into another position with more power and authority than the former.

That is why it’s so important to him to try to be a celebrity for taking the life of an unarmed teen who was just trying to get home.

I remember reading where Pat said he could give up on the election now. Have you read anything more about his run for mayor?

OMHO after his “friend” was caught moonlighting as “vigilante in his business his chance to become a major was nullified,it need to be said his chances before were 0 -political agitator stirring an empty pot.

Joseph,
Unless the voting population in DeLand is like 300, (or only 167 citizens there are on Facebook), I would say that Pat didn’t have a chance even before Zimmerman made it known that he was stalking out the store.

Xena,indeed I do not think he could have any chance to be a mayor ,specially after the news that he offered the vigilante some guns.

His past lies caught with him.Bad cop,and non existent academics,is not a crime
not to hold a degree to run for public office neither lying about one but
it goes against his credibility and intention,Von Voyage!

Joseph,
Pat was campaigning on a rise in crime. The incumbent mayor challenged him on that. Then, Pat’s store is robbed and Zimmerman is caught parked in the back of store waiting on robbers. That was to help promote Pat’s campaign strategy but it backfired.

I agree that not having or obtaining things such as a college degree is nothing to lie about. The proof of intelligence is not in the college degree but in how people treat others. Pat gave Zimmerman a gun, but not a job. Speaks volumes.

You got that right! And, Zimmerman WANTED the cops to know who he was and that Pat had given him a gun.

I’ve read the opinions of some that the robbery was staged. Don’t those motor bikes require a key to start? If so, how did the robbers know what exact keys would start those exact bikes unless they started them some other way? I really wish that the reporters writing about these things would present all the details from the police report. But then, in order for them to do so, the police have to have the details in their reports.

I’m not Joe, but there has been no story yet saying he was giving up his run. The only comment he has made was to a local TV station saying that this has ruined his chances. But he is still in the race.

There is a reporter for the local area that has been breaking all these stories from him being fired to the lack of a degree. Johnson got so fed up with the questions that he had the reporter given a trespass warning by the cops. He claims that the reporter said he would get even with him…..although if the truth is on your side then what do you have to fear. The reporter has also investigated the school past (did he really have the degree) of the current mayor and claims by Johnson that the mayor sold a home that violated ethics (The mayor sold a home to a City Manager, that needed a Deland address to accept the job and Johnson claims it violated so ethics rule.)

WASHINGTON — The death of James Brady has been ruled a homicide resulting from John Hinckley Jr.’s attempted 1981 assassination of President Ronald Reagan, the Virginia Medical Examiner ruled Friday.

As a result, D.C. Metropolitan Police are investigating the death of the former White House press secretary and gun control icon. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the shooting that left Brady partially paralyzed.

Brady died Tuesday at age 73. The medical examiner attributed his death to the bullet that struck Brady in the head when Hinckley emptied his six-shot .22-caliber revolver in March 1981

“We might not agree with what he did or how he did it, but he was honest with what he told us about that night.”

And that is suppose to mean what? That he went a little to far, but you don’t think he’ll do it again?

“Even if he gets 15 years, that’s essentially a life sentence for him,” Carpenter said, noting Wafer’s age.

Take note of this lady, Renisha was only 19 and he took the rest of her life from her.
If he didn’t intend to kill her, then he shouldn’t have opened the door. He had other choices. No he doesn’t get sent to the corner to think about it, that’s not how it works when your an adult.

First he said he accidentally shot Renisha. When that did not work in the preliminary hearing because it was pointed out that the trigger required 6+ pounds of pressure and could not go off accidentally, he with his legal team said he shot intentionally.

butterflydreamer,
Carpenter may not like what her client’s actions look like, but intentionally opening a door, and shooting a person’s face off through the screen door because they knocked on the door,is murder.

Carpenter is right about sentencing but guess what? At least Wafer got to live to be 55, which is something he robbed Renisha of doing.

I wanted to share this sad story of another injustice. Remember the ammosexuals with their displays of open carry using real ARs in restaurants and stores? This young man had a TOY gun and was killed by police.

This is one of the problems I have with “toy guns”. In fact I don’t even like the description of “toy” being assigned to the guns/rifles. The rifle he had on him was a Crossman MK-177 air rifle. Air rifles do not have to have the orange tip unlike an airsoft which does. They can fire a small metal “BB” and the 177 denotes the size of the BB.

This rifle was made to look like the Bushmaster ACR, which also comes in two different colors just like the MK-177, black or tan. When these companies make these “toys” they make them as realistic to the real thing as possible, looks, size, length, etc. There are few differences that can be made out in a life/death situation for a cop in which a cop has to make a split second decision.

It would appear from first accounts, that he did not have this on him when he entered the store but picked up on or took one out of the box in the camping/firearm section of Walmart. Walmart does not put these “toys” in the toy section of their stores.

IMO, if a toy company wants to make a BB/airsoft/bubblegun and wants to make it look like a real gun then there should be a federal law requiring more than just an orange tip, they should be required to have the body of the gun a bright neon color so that another officer does not mistake a “toy” for the real thing again.

towerflower,
Ahhh. Throw-back days. I remember when kids had “cap guns” and rifles, and no one feared because citizens in general did not own guns. The only people who came out in the open with them were bank robbers and Al Capone’s gang.

Guns have become so common now that “toy” guns and rifles should actually be removed from the consumer market, IMO. We need that to protect innocent citizens, children and adults, and relieve the fears of other citizens.

It will be interesting to see if they have any video. The girlfriend said he was by the toy section, the mother of his children whom he was on the phone with said he was at the toy section, if he had a BB gun it came from the sporting goods section, the witness said he was shot in the lawn and garden section, the police said he was in the pet section.

I don’t consider a BB/Airgun to be a toy, and if he was walking around pointing it at people, I would be concerned also. I have a problem with open carry in stores anyway. I have a problem with guns period. I think I need to hear more news of what occurred.

The family of an John Crawford III, African-American man shot and killed by police in a Wal-Mart store in Ohio, is demanding the retailer release surveillance video of the events that led to his death. Wal-Mart has released the footage to the Ohio Attorney General’s office, but has refused to release it to Crawford’s family…….

Jill Del Greco, a public information officer for the Ohio attorney general’s office, confirmed to msnbc that the attorney general’s office received the initial footage from Walmart and reviewed it, and then further requested surveillance footage from every camera in the store where the shooting took place. Del Greco says Wal-Mart complied and delivered all the footage to the attorney general’s office on Monday, and that they are now in the process of reviewing it. Del Greco also said they will not be releasing footage to the family or to the media until the investigation is completed.

LeeCee Johnson, the mother of John Crawford III’s two children — Jayden Crawford and John Crawford IV — holds their 4-month-old son Jayden on Wednesday outside of her Fairfield apartment. John Crawford III was shot and killed during an incident at a Walmart in Beavercreek on Tuesday night.
NICK DAGGY (Dayton Daily News)

Michael Brown, 18 and a recent graduate of High School was shot multiple times by police. He was unarmed and walking home from the store at around 2pm. He was to start college on Monday. Reports are still coming in, so right now most is still “rumor” until a full news conference is done. Reports have him being shot in the back or head/chest, 10 shots to 12 shots, having his hands up to being on the ground. But the one thing that has been verified was that Michael Brown was unarmed.

I wondered out loud what someone could have done to justify being shot and killed in the street when one did not possess a weapon nor attacked anyone? It is still unclear as to what prompted the shooting…..other than walking home and being black.

My thoughts and prayers are with this family, may they soon get answers and justice.

My fellow Black citizens have ALWAYS faced this horrific treatment by police. Why hasn’t ALL of America condemned this in the past, in this last year, in this last month?

Why now start talking in generalities? Is this Vermont guy’s talk given in order to talk reason to his white-priviledged audience?

What needs to be address MOST at this crucial moment when an UNARMED Black child with his hands up in a SURRENDER mode is the treatment of our innocent fellow Black citizens….the UNJUST, NEGATIVE profiling and stereotyping of Blacks by LE, wanna-be cops and hateful racists.

Excerpt:Police have confirmed the shooting, but little else, and as if the people of Ferguson, or across the nation via social media, needed any more reason to be outraged, their response to community grief and frustration was a show of force, rather than a show of concern. Aside from minimal statements to the press, there has been no press conference, no hint of what precipitated the shooting, and perhaps most tellingly, no denial that the young man was unarmed.

The notion of black people as threats is older than America itself, but there is something new and disturbing about this current roster of names added to those etched even in our recent past. Rodney King, Amadou Diallo, Eleanor Bumpurs, Abner Louima, these incidents were all rather far removed from the era that consumed the life of Emmett Till, but still occurred during times of roiling racial tension that was palpable to all. Even the killing of Sean Bell happened in the waning days of the pre-post-racial era before Barack Obama was elected president, and our popular (white) culture declared an end to racism.

What’s different now is that in post-racial America, it has become acceptable to be “post-racial,” and still fear black people. Policing strategies have legalized racism, and the media, beginning with the killing of Trayvon Martin, has made the view of black people as de facto threats just another side of the argument, and a persuasive one for many.

You can lock up all the killers of unarmed black people, or not lock them up, and it will make no difference the next time some panicky person with a gun shoots down the next Michael Brown, or Renisha McBride, or Jonathan Ferrell, or John Crawford, or chokes out the next Eric Garner. The people who have made it their business to legitimize the view of black culture as the wellspring of criminality have blood on their hands, and will continue to have blood on their hands.

Using words as individuals and men to rest importance that the murdered victim was
an UNARMED teen!

Why is important to put the horses before the carriage in this circumstances from
the police chief perspective because We the people are fools,you see ,nowhere was
mentioned what crime was committed by the victim nor words the compassion to the family.

It’s my belief that higher up crime agencies were created to justify every police murder
as justifiable or how many times everyone knows any officers indicted by gunning
or beating a civilian to death…

In this case the police chief very subtle started his press conference intent to grab the
gun by the victim,shooting inside the patrol car and such,,,,His code words,,, young thug
tried to disarm the police officer…

One down 2 more to go!

The DOJ is entertained with child porn and blue collar crimes,the violent deaths
of civilians from every race,gender and social status is an aberration.

I do not know why everyone is shock ,torture is legal in America,incitement against the
government by well known politicians is a daily occurrence.

When people in power worry more about missiles than students in the classrooms,
hugging and praising known racists and homophobes,denying living wages,they don’t care about US.

I could rant forever but everyone know something is fishy and isn’t fish!

Note-I got a big satisfaction that at least/last a bigot was convicted by a jury of his peers.